


For He Who Sheds His Blood (A One-Shot)

by WarriorQueen



Category: Warrior (2011)
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Death, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gen, Loss, Marine Corps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 10:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarriorQueen/pseuds/WarriorQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	For He Who Sheds His Blood (A One-Shot)

Tommy Conlon pulled his Aviator glasses down over the bridge of his nose and sighed audibly. He stared at the modest ranch-style just outside of El Paso, Texas. The last time he came here was for the birth of his goddaughter, Maria. Now he was at the gate of Manny’s house and shifted from foot to foot. 

Tommy’s heavy heart pounded wildly in his chest as he hesitated with the latch. Every memory spent between this little house and the base at Fort Bliss coursed through his veins. He needed to be with Pilar, Manny’s wife, and the kids just one more time before his court martial in September. He wanted to show Little Man and his sister Maria that their Tio Tommy wasn’t a complete failure. He could provide SOMETHING for the family who welcomed him with open arms when he was a younger man. It was the least he could do for being the survivor when it should have been their Papi. 

A car door slamming behind Tommy startled him out of the reverie. He turned and felt the tension ease just a bit as his older brother Brendan slung a messenger bag over his shoulder. Brendan looked apologetic when he noticed the younger Conlon flinch; his hand rubbed Tommy’s back encouragingly. 

“You ready for this?” Brendan searched Tommy’s eyes. 

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, “Fuck man. I don’t know. Ready as ever? I mean, I was humiliated AND arrested on global television. How damn difficult could this be?” 

Almost subconsciously he reached down to make sure the monitoring device around his ankle was hidden by his jeans. Brendan’s eyes followed, implicitly aware that the only reason Tommy was allowed to cross state lines was because the acting officers who would sentence him felt damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. Tommy deserted because of the very Marine Corps who gave him a home when he couldn’t go back to his own. 

Brendan started to contemplate the bullshit term “Friendly fire” when the entire Fernandez clan burst through the front door. Even before Tommy could make it through the fence he finally had opened. The Conlon brothers stepped in to the little driveway as little Maria leapt off the ground and in to Tommy’s arms. The tenderness of his once dislocated shoulder didn’t even register as he held her as tightly.

“TIO TOMMY! Donde has estado?!” Maria cried, giddy with joy. “Where have you been Uncle Tommy? Soy cinco! You missed my fifth birthday. Did you bring me a present?” Her questions didn’t cease as she climbed down and Tommy’s hands. Manny’s huge brown eyes stared up at him. 

Tommy laughed in spite of himself. He felt all the anxiety and fear melt away as he held Lil Man (as he was affectionately called) at arm’s length. Maria wrapped herself around Tommy’s leg, peaking under his arm at Brendan who waved and smiled. Emanuel took his turn hugging his “uncle” as hard as his eight year old arms could. The air playfully rushed from Tommy’s lungs before Pilar threw herself at him much the same way Maria had done. Nothing had changed.

“Has vuelto a nosotros.” Pilar’s Spanish was choked by the tears that spilled over her cheeks. “I knew you would come back when you could.” She held Tommy’s face in her hands and pushed the hair off his forehead. A bittersweet smile played across her lips as she fingered Manny's pendant around Tommy's neck. “I was so worried about you. You never believe you are worth anything, Tommy.”

“It shoulda been me, Pilar. I..” Tommy hesitated to speak, wanting to swallow his tongue. He absently ruffled Maria’s hair, his other arm clinging to his best friend’s wife. “I promised to bring Manny back safe to you and the kids. I’m so sorry.”

Pilar shook her head, “I’m so proud of you, Mio. Manny está orgulloso de ti. He is proud of you, Tommy. If you didn’t survive, who would have been around to save those boys? His best friend left Iraq a hero. Everything will work itself out. Ok?” 

Tommy nodded his head as the tears streamed down his face. He had waited so long for someone to say those words. For someone who meant something in his life to look in his eyes and believe he was a war hero. He didn’t feel like it. Saving those Marines in the submerged tank was the right thing to do. It wasn’t heroic. It was humane. It didn’t matter that the press and crowd at Sparta, even the Marines themselves showed up to cheer him on. What WAS important was that Manny’s widow and children accepted his “status” as truth. Manny’s death had been beyond his control, and they understood that. Pilar never held him as responsible as he held himself.

“You know I’m gonna get put away for awhile, huh?” he asked ashamed of himself. “I probably won’t ever forgive myself for Manny’s death, but I kept one promise.” Tommy reluctantly let go of Pilar and the kids. He stepped back to introduce Brendan. “This is Brendan. My big brother.”

Brendan blushed as he extended his hand to Pilar. She pushed it aside and embraced him as firmly has she had done Tommy. “Tommy told Manny and I so much about you.” 

Brendan gasped as he glanced up at Tommy who was busy laughing and wiping tears from his face. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how I can live up to what a wonderful brother Manny was to Tommy all these years. I’m so sorry I never got to meet him. Tommy and I have a lot of work to do, but I promise you I’ll take care of him.”

“Aww, c’mon! Give it to her already, Bren!” Tommy’s demeanor had changed in an instant. He was happier than he had been in months, maybe years. He had hoisted Maria up in to his arms. 

“OH! Yeah!” Brendan exclaimed, chuckling. 

He reached in to his messenger bag and pulled out and official document signed by J.J. Riley who created the Sparta Tournament. Brendan grabbed his glasses and opened the letter to double check that it was the right one. He passed it over to Pilar who scanned over it. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Is this? Did I read this right?!” she cried out and grabbed at both Tommy and Brendan. The letter drifted off on to the driveway and Lil Man picked it up to read it as best as he could. Pilar had pulled Tommy and Brendan in for their millionth hug of the day. “Dios mio! Gracias, Tommy! Mucho, mucho gracias, Brendan! You didn‘t have to do this.” 

“I told you. Manny was there for Tommy all of the times I should have been. This is the least of what I owe the both of you for helping my brother become the man he is today.” Brendan wiped at his own eyes now.

Lil Man held the letter up to Tommy. “Tio. What does this mean?” he asked quizzically.

“Well, Kiddo. It means that my brother Brendan asked for one million dollars to be set aside from the big contest he just won,” Tommy rubbed the little boy’s arms gently. 

Tommy got down on one knee, taking the little boy’s hand as his Pilar danced around them in joy. “It was a contest I had entered, but he beat me. I was gonna give you everything if I had won. Brendan really needed the money to take care of his two little girls who happen,” he poked Lil Man’s chest playfully, “to be around your age and Maria’s. But Brendan also wanted to make sure that I could still take care of you too.” 

Tommy stood up, straighter and prouder than he had since he left the desert. His brother put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him affectionately. Every bridge Tommy had ever burned could be mended with time and love. Here outside this little ranch house, Fort Bliss in the near distance, was where he started to rebuild. Texas was where Tommy had kept his promises.


End file.
